The Truth
by BigB27
Summary: AU. One shot. Ted promised he'd tell Luke and Leia how he'd met their mother. But with his constant ramblings and no progress towards the end, they decide to find out on their own what the truth is about their mother. But is Ted really the good guy he made himself out to be? M for language.


The Truth

Ted was near the end of his long story of how he met his wife. Both of his kids couldn't wait for the story to end, it seemed like he started this story eight years ago. "Then I saw her at the train station, the guitarist from the wedding." Ted said as his kids leaned forward in anticipation of finally revealing where he met their mother. "And that kids, is how I met Jenny." "What!" Ted's kids said simultaneously. "Who the heck is Jenny?" Ted's daughter asked. "Ah Jenny, she was the woman I dated before your mother." "No, you said that was Jeanette." explained Ted's son. "Oh sorry, Jenny was my last romance before your mother, or was that Kirsten, I'll get to that." Ted rambled on. His kids then started getting angry.

"Damn it Dad enough of these pointless stories, just tell us when you met Mom." Ted's son said angrily. "Really kids, is that what you want?" "Yes!" They said both at once. "Okay I'll cut to the chase. It was a week before Independence Day, me and Barney were trying to decide what to do this year without your Aunt Lily and Uncle Marshall. Meanwhile Robin was having trouble at work with a new colleague, he was a little friendlier than Robin would've liked." Ted started rambling on again. "Dad stop rambling!" Ted's daughter shouted. "Every time you say you're almost done you add another stupid story. What are you hiding?" There was a long silence. Ted finally started talking again. "Okay kids, your Mother was part of a secret organization called the fraternity, she was an assassin born into a life she never chose. She wanted to keep us safe so she went into hiding."

Ted's kids looked baffled yet furious at the same time. "Dad we told you to cut the crap not quote some shitty movie from the early 2000s." Ted's son snapped. "That's it, come on bro we don't need to listen to this crap. Unless you tell us the real story, we're giving you the silent treatment." Ted's daughter said angrily. Ted's kids got off the catch and went upstairs. "Come on guys you can't do this to me. Luke and Leia if you don't come down right now then you're going to bed without supper!" Ted shouted hysterically. Ted's kids then went into the study. "Damn it what the hell is he hiding from us?" Luke asked. "I don't know, but you know what's funny? Dad is always talking about his friends like they're our aunts and uncles, yet we've never met any of them." Leia said "Yeah I know, I can't remember anything about Mom, can you?" Luke asked curiously "Nope, as kids dad always said he would tell us about Mom when we were old enough." She said "Yeah and he comes out with these bullshit stories. Whatever he's hiding it's something big. I'm going to do some research about this, dad is clearly not gonna tell us." Luke said as he left the room. Luke couldn't find any information about his mother. He then decided to seek out his father's best friends on Facebook, hoping they could shed some light on this. He found Barney and Robin Stinson on Facebook; their profile said they lived in Manhattan. Luke sent them both a message explaining his situation and asking to meet. He also found Marshall and Lily Eriksen located in Long Island. He sent them a message also.

He spent the next few days awaiting a reply. It was an awkward few days as Luke and Leia were both ignoring Ted. He was trying to make out he didn't care but you could see it was killing him. Finally Lily had replied to his message. She said to meet them at a coffee shop in East Meadow Long Island to explain some details. Neither Barney nor Robin had replied to the message, but they had both seen it. Luke then knocked on Leia's door then walked in. "What Luke?" Leia asked impatiently. "Okay so I found all of Dad's friends on Facebook, I sent them all a message and Lily has agreed to meet in East Meadow Long Island." Luke explained. "Long Island, you're joking right? That's like 3 hours away by bus." Leia said agitated. "I know but do you want to know the truth about Mom or not?" "Fine, when did it say to meet?" "Next Saturday at noon."

On Saturday Luke and Leia made sure to wake up early and to avoid waking Ted. They left the house at around nine. After a long bus ride they finally arrived at East Meadow. They entered the designated coffee shop and sat down at one of the tables. "Okay what does she look like?" asked Leia. "Um, I have no idea." "What? Luke we are three hours away from home meeting some woman you found off the internet, for all we know she's a con artist. Was there not even a profile picture?" Leia asked angrily. "Well sorry Leia, the picture was of a baby so I couldn't tell. But would you please calm down, it's not helping." Luke said anxiously. A red headed woman then approached them; she was dressed in a black coat. "Excuse me, are you Luke Mosby?" She asked. "Um yeah, are you Lily Eriksen?" Luke asked. "Yes I'm Lily. And is this your sister?" Lily asked. "Yes hi, I'm Leia." A look of disappointment was on Lily's face. "He didn't seriously call you Luke and Leia did he?" "Don't get me started, I hate that stupid movie. I don't know why Dad loves it so much." Leia said. "Okay guys, what is it you'd like to know?" Lily said. "Well for starters why does dad refer to you as our aunt Lily when we've never even met you?" Leia asked. "Well the five of us were best friends at one point; he still probably wishes we were." Lily answered. "Why aren't you guys' friends anymore? In the stories dad always makes out like you were inseparable." Luke asked. "There are many little reasons but there's a big one too. Look don't take this the wrong way, but your dad is a massive douche. Over the years he would always make selfish decisions, he used to annoy the crap out of us all. See he made a woman leave a man at the altar for him, and he was left at the altar himself." Lily explained. "Yeah we know the story, dad invited Robin to his wedding, and Stella got mad. Dad invited Stella's ex and she left dad for him." Leia said impatiently. "I still don't understand how he could make someone else go through that." Lily said. "But Dad said Klaus couldn't go through with the wedding either and they both ran off." Luke said. "Is that what he told you? That's a complete lie. Klaus was heartbroken. He sent Victoria gifts for months begging her to take him back. Ted said that Klaus never loved her and was using her for sex, just so he could keep Victoria. Even though he was blatantly still in love with Robin." "What!" Luke and Leia said simultaneously. "Dad said that Victoria refused to date him if he was still friends with Robin. He then dumped her due to her acting psycho." Luke explained. "Again lies, your dad never got over Robin, Victoria noticed by the way he still stared at Robin. How he would always talk about her. After Ted called Victoria Robin she snapped. She asked Ted if he still loved Robin, Ted wouldn't answer. Victoria then dumped Ted as he was clearly still in love with Robin." Lily explained while Luke and Leia looked baffled.

Lily explained the truth about all of Ted's stories, while most of them had an element of truth, Ted always twisted the stories to make himself look like a good person. At first Luke and Leia were shocked to hear the truth of each story, but then they realized the truth about their father. He was a self centered childish jerk. Not the man described in the stories. "So what is this big reason you stopped being friends?" Luke asked. "Are you sure you want to know. Ted clearly described himself as quite the hero, hearing this story might shock you two." Lily explained. "Well it can't be worse than any of the other things he's done." Leia said. "Okay, it was at Barney and Robin's wedding. During the reception Ted felt really depressed. He started drinking heavily. Barney and Robin were about to have their first dance, then Ted walked up to Robin and kissed her. Everyone stared at them in shock. Robin pushed him off immediately and slapped him. Barney and Robin started arguing with Ted. Ted then ran up on stage, he had a mental breakdown saying how he still loved Robin and that Barney stole her." Lily explained. Luke and Leia were staring at Lily Jaws dropped. "They threw Ted out of the wedding; Barney and Robin haven't spoken to him since. With me and Marshall moving to Rome, Ted wanted nothing to do with us. When we got back we had no idea where he was, but we were tired of his selfish attitude so we never sought him out." Lily said. "Wait so you don't know who our mother is?" Luke asked. "Sorry Luke, I don't." "Then why did you reply to my message?"Luke asked confused. "Well to be honest you looked desperate for information, and Barney mentioned how you sent him and Robin a message too. I knew neither of them would reply so I did. Marshall didn't want to come though; they all still have a grudge against Ted." Lily said. "Thanks Lily, but it's getting late and Dad's kind of angry at us." Leia said "No problem, I just wish I could be more help. Here's my number if you have any other questions. But don't let your dad know you contacted me. It's best for both of us." Lily said. "Bye Lily." They both said leaving the coffee shop. As they exited the building a cold gust blew in their direction. It was started to get dark. It was autumn so it was getting darker earlier. They both got on the bus staring at the twilight sunset. Neither said anything the whole ride back. Both Luke and Leia were still in slight shock about everything they had found out from Lily.

Luke and Leia got home in the late evening; they were exhausted from the long trip. As they walked into the house they both collapsed on the couch. Ted was watching some TV show about architecture. He looked at his kids but didn't say anything. After what seemed like hours Ted broke the silence. "There would've been pizza for dinner but since you two ran off now you don't get dinner." Ted said childishly. Luke and Leia didn't dignify that with a response. This only made Ted angrier. "Yeah well I was going to take you too IHOP, but you missed out on that." Still silent. "Leia I was going to buy you that silver necklace you wanted, and Luke I was going to get you that new video game, but since you two were bad you get nothing." Ted said looking for a response. The further silence only infuriated him. "Come on kids this isn't fair! I've fed and clothed you, given you shelter. I changed your dirty diapers, stop ignoring me!" Ted snapped. "No dad, what isn't fair is how you won't tell us about Mom." Luke said. "Look that story is very special to me, and I want to wait for the right moment to tell it." "Dad I'm almost 18 and I have no idea who my mother was or why I've never met her. You don't know what that's like. For years you said you'd tell us when we're older and now we're practically adults. Why won't you tell us? What are you hiding?" Leia said. Ted sighed and stared at the floor. "Come on Leia lets go to upstairs." Luke said. "Okay, I'll talk." Ted said unwillingly. "Fine but you say one word of bullshit and we're going straight upstairs." Leia said impatiently. "Okay. Me and your mother met in a coffee shop in Manhattan. Her name was Maria Hill; she worked for a government agency called Shield and after Luke was born she had to go into hiding to keep us safe." "Dad, that's a superhero movie from 2012." Luke said agitated. "Come on Luke." Leia said angrily. As Luke and Leia got up from the couch Ted started getting teary. "Guys come on; you can't do this to me! If you go upstairs then you're both grounded!" Ted shouted starting to cry. "Oh and another thing, you always talk about your best friends like they're our family, yet we've never met them. How do we know they exist?" Luke asked. "They do exist! Lily and Marshall are always busy with Marvin, and Barney and Robin travel a lot! It's true! Please don't go upstairs! Please!" Ted said fully crying. Luke and Leia then went into the computer room. "I feel kinda bad. Dad was crying his eyes out. Are we being out of line?" Luke asked. "No he's being out of line. What is so bad about Mom? Was she a whore or a murderer? I'd rather know than be kept in the dark like this. He's the one in the wrong, not us." Leia said slightly angry. More days passed and Ted still wouldn't tell them about their mother. After school Luke and Leia would make their own dinner then go straight to bed. Luke still felt guilty about this, but Leia ensured him it was the right thing to do.

Another week had passed and Ted tried again. Luke and Leia had got home from school and just as they were running towards the stairs Ted spoke to them. "Kids wait I'll tell you the truth." Ted said. "We're listening." Leia said impatiently. "I met your Mom at a Cleveland Indians game. We both loved baseball. A few months after Luke was born we went to a little league game; you two were being babysat by our neighbor. One of the kids hit a baseball too hard and it hit your Moms head. She died that day." Ted said while staring at the floor. "Dad, that's Simon Birch." Luke said annoyed. "Dad just tell us! Was Mom a drug addict? Was she a whore? Was she some accidental one night stand? Or wait, she was a serial killer wasn't she?" Leia shouted angrier. "She was a surrogate!" Ted shouted. "What!" Luke and Leia said at the same time. "It was January 2015 and I still hadn't met the love of my life. I really wanted kids but no woman was ever interested in me long term. I didn't want to wait any longer so I decided to just get a surrogate. Nine months later Leia was born. After a few months I decided I wanted a son too, so I got another surrogate for Luke." Ted said with remorse. "Why didn't you just tell us?" Leia asked confused. "Because I felt like a failure. After Lily and Marshall got engaged I promised myself I would find my soul mate. Ten years later I was still single. Even Barney got married before I did; Barney the womanizer. When I was your age I thought I'd be married when I was in my early twenties. I thought by the time I was thirty I'd have two kids with my beautiful wife in my dream house. Then I became thirty seven still without a long lasting relationship. I failed myself, I failed my parents and I failed you." Ted said holding back tears. Luke and Leia were staring at Ted completely confused. All this time he had kept their mother a secret, only for it to be this. Their mother was just an egg donor who didn't even know they existed. Not some spy working for a secret government agency. Not a random woman he met at a random place, just a woman who sold off her eggs for extra money. Ted finally broke the silence."If you hate me then I understand." Ted said with remorse. "We don't hate you. We just don't get why you'd keep that a secret." Leia said. "We were beginning to think we were kidnapped or something." Luke said. "What no, I just felt like a failure." Ted said tearing up. Luke and Leia then gave Ted a group hug. "But you still didn't explain why we've never met your best friends." Luke said. "Yes I did. Marvin has a serious health condition so Marshall and Lily don't have enough time to see us. Barney and Robin won the lottery so they're always off traveling so they don't get time to see us either." Ted explained. Luke and Leia knew this was complete bullshit. Leia managed to suppress her urge call him out on this, but Luke could not. "Really Dad?" Luke asked sarcastically. "Yes really." Said Ted confused. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you kissed Robin on her wedding day?" Luke asked sarcastically. Leia hit her face with her palm. "What, how the hell do you know that?" Ted asked confused. "I um, found a video online." Luke said trying to sound convincing. "You met up with one of my friends didn't you?" Ted asked slightly angrily. Luke was speechless. "Yes Dad we met up with Lily." Leia replied agitated. "How could you do this? Digging into my past like that!" Ted shouted angrily. "Well sorry dad, but you wouldn't tell us who Mom was so we were hoping to get answers from your old friend." Leia snapped. "Of course Lily couldn't tell us who Mom was, but she did tell us how you twisted all of your stories to make you the good guy. As if Klaus didn't want to get married, you just made that up so you wouldn't seem like an asshole." Leia said. "Stop talking about things you know nothing about!" Ted shouted. "Well we only heard a biased side so we wouldn't know anything about it would we dad?" Leia said daringly. "Go to your room! Both of you!" Ted exploded.

A couple of hours had passed and everyone had cooled off. "Kids, can you come downstairs please." Ted called up to them. Both Luke and Leia came downstairs. Luke had his hands in his pockets and was staring at the ground. Leia had her arms crossed and looked agitated. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about my life, or who your mother was. I was just so embarrassed of my past. We've all done things we regret, and I didn't want my past to affect our present. I'm sorry. I should've told you about your Mom long ago, but part of me still held onto that part fairytale. Can you forgive me?" Ted asked. "Are there anymore secrets?" Leia asked. "That depends on how much Lily told you." Ted said while Leia had a look of anger on her face. "Just kidding. Am I forgiven?" Ted asked. "Fine, we forgive you." Leia said. Luke and Leia returned to their rooms. After knowing the truth about their father and his lies, Luke and Leia just accepted it. Yes Ted may have been self centered and childish, but he wasn't the worst man in the world.

Fin-


End file.
